Archive for February, 2009

Stephanie Slone waited for nine hours to be close to Barack Obama during his rally at the Capitol on Feb. 22, 2008. Much to her surprise, an intimate moment between her and Sen. Obama, captured by Jay Janner made it to the the front page the next day.

We invited her to our studio to share her side of the experience.

produced by Jenni Jones AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Feb 27, 2009 | Video | Comments Off on a thousand words tell one good story

A young swimmer bathes in the warmth of a heated pool and the last bit of sunshine during swim practice for the Gold Team at the Wells Branch neighborhood pool. Photo by Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman

Feb 26, 2009 | Uncategorized | Comments Off on A Young Swimmer Soaks in the Waves and Sunshine

As far as owners go Odie’s a pretty lucky fellow. Chris Lopez wasn’t going to catch the Longhorn season opener without his four-legged companion so he packed up Odie, Samantha Teigen, and a couple of beers and parked everyone on the top of his truck to watch the game from lot close to the field. I’m not sure if Odie enjoyed the game but certainly looked happy. Photo by Deborah Cannon/Austin American-Statesman

Nancy Hanlan, a data analyst at the Heart Hospital of Austin, walks through the mitral valve in a giant inflatable heart model during an exhibition at the hospital on Wednesday Feb. 25, 2009. "Matters of the Heart: A Cardiovascular Exhibition on a Grand Scale," featured the 12-foot-tall, 21-foot-long first of its kind giant inflatable heart. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

This brand new one-of-a-kind giant inflatable heart made its world debut at the Heart Hospital of Austin, and I was there to document it.

Nancy Hanlan, a data analyst at the Heart Hospital of Austin, walks through the mitral valve in a giant inflatable heart model during an exhibition at the hospital on Wednesday Feb. 25, 2009. "Matters of the Heart: A Cardiovascular Exhibition on a Grand Scale," featured the 12-foot-tall, 21-foot-long first of its kind giant inflatable heart. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

This brand new one-of-a-kind giant inflatable heart made its world debut at the Heart Hospital of Austin, and I was there to document it.

Nancy Hanlan, a data analyst at the Heart Hospital of Austin, walks through the mitral valve in a giant inflatable heart model during an exhibition at the hospital on Wednesday Feb. 25, 2009. "Matters of the Heart: A Cardiovascular Exhibition on a Grand Scale," featured the 12-foot-tall, 21-foot-long first of its kind giant inflatable heart. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

This brand new one-of-a-kind giant inflatable heart made its world debut at the Heart Hospital of Austin, and I was there to document it.

Nancy Hanlan, a data analyst at the Heart Hospital of Austin, walks through the mitral valve in a giant inflatable heart model during an exhibition at the hospital on Wednesday Feb. 25, 2009. "Matters of the Heart: A Cardiovascular Exhibition on a Grand Scale," featured the 12-foot-tall, 21-foot-long first of its kind giant inflatable heart. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

This brand new one-of-a-kind giant inflatable heart made its world debut at the Heart Hospital of Austin, and I was there to document it.

Nancy Hanlan, a data analyst at the Heart Hospital of Austin, walks through the mitral valve in a giant inflatable heart model during an exhibition at the hospital on Wednesday Feb. 25, 2009. "Matters of the Heart: A Cardiovascular Exhibition on a Grand Scale," featured the 12-foot-tall, 21-foot-long first of its kind giant inflatable heart. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

This brand new one-of-a-kind giant inflatable heart made its world debut at the Heart Hospital of Austin, and I was there to document it.

This is a tiny version of a much larger panoramic image taken with a new Gigapan robotic camera mount. The original image is about 1.5 GB in size, this one is about 1MB. As luck would have it, a running friend of mine, Rich LeGrande, is a co-developer of the Gigapan camera mount. They recently came out with a new prototype and Rich was kind enough to let us take it for a spin. The mount allows you to capture super high resolution panoramas with a basic point and shoot camera. The full size image was stitched together from 250 individual photographs taken with a Canon G9. Gigapan software stitches the images together and creates a massive high resolution panorama of the entire scene. Once it’s finished, you upload the file to the Gigapan server and can then explore the high resolution detail of the image.

Lucky for us we’ll have the Gigapan prototype for a while so I’ll be testing it all around town. Let me know if you have any ideas for locations that lend themselves to a good Gigapan photograph. Here’s a link to the photograph as it looks on the Gigapan website:

On election night I was assigned to get local reaction to the presidential election results.I wanted to be with African-Americans as they watched the results on television.With the help of a co-worker I found a viewing party at a local restaurant.

As soon as the results started trickling in I began making photos and transmitting them back to my editors.This went on for a while until eventually Obama was declared the winner and the place erupted.I made some pretty good photos of the celebration and then quickly went back to my car to transmit.

I decided to go back into the party one more time to photograph the group watching Obama’s acceptance speech.It was a dark room and the whole place was now silent.That’s when I noticed the woman in front, bathed in the blue glow of a neon light, intently listening to Obama.The image of the TV screen was reflected in her glasses.I knew this could make an interesting image.I just hoped I could pull it off technically.I hand-held and manually focused a 200mm lens at 1/30th second.Over the next few minutes I shot of several photos of her but only a couple were any good.

It is an honor to be recognized in the Presidential General Election category of the POYi.My photo is the only one among the winners in which the candidate is not even in the photo.I was in Austin, Obama was in Chicago, but I still made a compelling photo.This illustrates one of my guiding principles in my photojournalism career:One doesn’t have to travel to exotic places to do great photojournalism.It can be done in one’s own town.

The National Amputee Golf Association's First Swing Clinic came to the driving range at Ft. Sam Houston Golf Club in San Antonio, TX. Monday morning to teach wounded soldiers the game of golf. Golf professional Mark Sanders, from Missouri, left, helps soldier Matt Poirier, with getting the club around his body in the back swing as he finds it difficult to pivot on his prosthetic leg. In the foreground are the legs of Staff Sergeant Rico Roman, who was injured in Iraq by an IED during patrol. Photo by Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman

It’s never easy when a relationship ends, but it does seem to inspire interesting work sometimes. For Valentine’s Day this year I put together a short series of interviews about “Love”. It’s a word loaded with so many possible meanings and I thought it deserved a little explanation. Talking with these people about what love meant in their lives was so cathartic and inspiring that I’ve decided to continue the story and possibly put together a longer documentary. Visit loveisthedocumentary.com for more information as the project comes together. Please send your thoughts if you care to share.

Grackles fly over a pile of compost at Texas Disposal Systems. photo by Kelly West

Two things I didn’t know before I went to work last week: 1. Piles of trash don’t always smell bad. 2. Riding in a bulldozer is really fun.
I went to Texas Disposal Systems facility on Monday to shoot photos of the waste from the Austin Marathon that was sent there to be recycled and composted. I fully expected to need a shower after I was done, but the whole place just smelled like dirt. They have an enormous composting system that is so efficient, I was told an entire cow could be composted in 30 days…if anyone ever wanted to do that. Also, I was lifted up in the front part of a bulldozer to get an overhead shot. Who knew the most fun I would have at work would be at the dump?

A young FLDS girl peers out a window while waiting to be reunited with her parents at the Austin Children’s Shelter in Austin, Texas, on Monday June 2, 2008, the day after a judge ordered the immediate release of hundreds of FLDS children seized by Child Protective Services. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

This photograph I made of a young FLDS girl waiting to be reunited with her parents recently won an Award of Excellence in the General News Reporting category in the Pictures of the Year International (POYi) photojournalism contest.

On June 2, 2008, the day after a court order, dozens of FLDS children in shelters all over Texas were released back to their parents.First thing that morning I set up with a 400mm lens in a spot across a busy street from the Austin Children’s Shelter to wait for the reunions.The first pictures I made early that morning were of a little girl clutching her doll and looking out the window anxiously awaiting her parents’ arrival.Little did I know it at the time but that would be the best photo I would make all day.That’s because in an effort to protect the families, shelter officials decided to use large blue tarps as a makeshift shield from the media.I stood in front of that shelter for nine long hours in the Texas heat, and never had a chance to document the actual reunions.The best I could do was get a shot of some shadows casts on the tarp.At the end of the day I felt like I had failed.I was hot, tired and frustrated about the blue tarps.

But the photo of the little girl made an impression on a lot of people.I guess I should have quit while I was ahead!

In a recent survey by CareerCast.com photojournalist was listed as the third most stressful job behind only surgeon and commercial airline pilot.According to the article at CareerCast, “[photojournalists’] jobs can require them to be on the frontline of every catastrophe, from wars to hurricanes to riots. However, one common bond between all three of our most stressful jobs is their demanding schedules, which often change at the last minute and may require extended periods away from home or long shifts while on the job.”

In addition, in order to make our photos we have to be in the exact right place at just the right time with our cameras on the proper settings and the focus just right and release the shutter at the perfect split-second.There are dozens of different variables that are out of our control that can ruin our photos. And in photojournalism there are no do-overs.You either get it right the first time and capture the defining moment or you lose it forever.Good photojournalists know how to increase their odds of getting a good picture but there is also a fair amount of luck. All that adds up to lots of stress, especially during very important assignments and historical moments.

According to CareerCast, “The type of stress surgeons face when operating may be very different from the stress a pilot feels when landing in a storm and from how a photojournalist feels while taking pictures during a fire or hurricane, but all three bear more stress than any other job in the country.”

I agree that photojournalism can be a stressful job.But it’s also a very rewarding and fun job, and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.

“The Drag” along Guadalupe Street fronting the University of Texas campus is a haven for street art and jewelry as evident by popular vendor David Miller’s authentic hand-made jewelry. “Most of this is made by me, but some beads are from Thailand and I design everything myself.” said Miller, whose hot items include hundreds of peace sign bracelets, necklaces and earrings. He opens shop every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 2324 Guadalupe St. in front of Austin’s Pizza. Photo by Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman

Austin City Manager Marc Ott held a town hall meeting at the Mexican-American Cultural Center Thursday evening to get community feedback on the impact of recession on the 2009 budget. One of the chief concerns from the public was the shortening of branch library hours by 9.5 hours a week. Terry Barksdale, a citizen and supporter of libraries, brought her homemade sign to the auditorium to speak out. Photo by Ralph Barrera/Austin American-Statesman

Texas’ Erika Arriaran, right battles for a loose ball with Oklahoma State’s Megan Byford, left, and Taylor Hardemna, center, during second half action of the Cowgirls upset victory 58-52 at the Frank Erwin Center Wednesday night. In other action freshman center Ashleigh Gayle blocks the shot of Megan Byford, while Coach Gail Goestenkors argues a call on the offensive end as freshman guard Asleigh Fontenette goes airborne for a rebound.

Hays Lady Rebels' #9, Kelsey Schnautz, races down the sideline against a bank of fog glowing from the stadium lights of Hays high school's Bob Shelton Stadium during action against New Braunfels Canyon on Tuesday, February 17, 2009. Hays defeated New Braunfels Canyon 3-2. (photo by Rodolfo Gonzalez)

Clifford the Big Red Dog meets lobbyist Steve Holzheauser while roaming the halls of the Capitol on Tuesday Feb. 17, 2009. Clifford and other PBS characters spent the day at the Capitol for Pre-k Day to raise awareness for pre-k issues. Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

I probably shouldn’t admit this but I do not follow Longhorn football. I know, I know… Why am I here in Austin you ask. I won’t argue with you about that. But when the Longhorns do well, I end up covering them pretty closely, especially when they go to a big bowl game. This year I followed them, along with a few fellow photographers from the Statesman to Phoenix, AZ. Watching the game from the field was pretty amazing. Chasing the players onto the field after they won was awesome…. but honestly the most impressive part of the trip for me was the Camelback Inn Spa and Resort, the official headquarters for Fiesta Bowl media. Wow!! 25 bucks for an egg sandwich and a cup of coffee. Fire pits around an outdoor bar. Live music almost every night. It’s not really my kinda place but what luxury. This video was just a test with a new Canon 5D Mark II camera that shoots amazing HD video in almost no light. Deborah Cannon and I shot it one night at this luxurious resort.

Feb 17, 2009 | Uncategorized | Comments Off on Living large at the Fiesta Bowl